Characterizing the Stormwater Runoff Quality and Evaluating the Performance of Curbside Infiltration Systems to Improve Stormwater Quality of an Urban Catchment

The conveyance of stormwater has become a major concern for urban planners, considering its harmful effects for receiving water bodies, potentially disturbing their ecosystem. Therefore, it is important to characterize the quality of catchment outflows. This information can assist in planning for appropriate mitigation measures to reduce stormwater runoff discharge from the catchment. To achieve this aim, the article reports the field data from a typical urban catchment in Australia. The pollutant concentration from laboratory testing is then compared against national and international reported values. In addition, a stochastic catchment model was prepared using MUSIC. The study in particular reported on the techniques to model distributed curbside leaky wells with appropriate level of aggregation. The model informed regarding the efficacy of distributed curbside leaky well systems to improve the stormwater quality. The results indicated that catchment generated pollutant load, which is typical of Australian residential catchments. The use of distributed storages only marginally improves the quality of catchment outflows. It is because ability of distributed leaky wells depended on the intercepted runoff volume which is dependent on the hydrological storage volume of each device. Therefore, limited storage volume of current systems resulted in higher contributing area to storage ratio. This manifested in marginal intercepted volume, thereby only minimum reduction in pollutant transport from the catchment to outlet. Considering strong correlation between contributing impervious area and runoff pollutant generation, the study raised the concern that in lieu of following the policy of infill development, there can be potential increase in pollutant concentration in runoff outflows from Australian residential catchments. It is recommended to monitor stormwater quality from more residential catchments in their present conditions. This will assist in informed decision-making regarding adopting mitigations measures before considering developments.

COST DISEASE PHENOMENON OF THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE INDUSTRIES IN UKRAINE

The study of the analysis of the dynamics of indicators that characterize the current state of development of the creative industries sector of Ukraine was conducted to conclude the presence or absence of signs of "cost disease". The analysis was conducted at a high level of aggregation: distinguishing only two segments of the creative industries sector: cultural and creative. The study's relevance is that in a crisis in the economy, it is advisable to diagnose sectors that need support by attracting additional funding from the budget or private funds, as the losses that occur are long-term and difficult to compensate. The study aims to empirically verify the theoretical regularity of Baumol W.I., Bowen W.G. on the manifestation of signs of "cost disease" in the sector of creative industries of the economy of Ukraine based on available statistics. The study's methodology was to identify the symptoms of "cost disease" by comparing indicators of specific segments of the creative industries sector with indicators of macroeconomic dynamics. For this purpose, the time series of macroeconomic characteristics of the Ukrainian economy was used in work. Studies have shown the absence of signs of cost disease in the creative segment of the creative industries sector and the presence of two of the three signs in the cultural segment. In particular, the "lagging productivity" formed during the last five years has been revealed in the cultural segment. The second sign was also confirmed: "catching up" with wages, which is that wages in the cultural segment are growing faster than labour productivity in the diagnosed segment. Comparing the dynamics of the price index in the national economy and the cultural segment of the creative industries sector, we see that prices in the national economy grew faster than prices for services provided in the cultural segment of the creative industries sector. The third sign that indicates the presence of "cost disease" in the cultural segment - is missing. However, the specific income deficit in the cultural segment of the creative industries sector (which has a positive value due to one of the three signs of "cost disease") is offset by two other factors - "productivity lag" and "catching up" wage growth.

The Aftermath of Anti-Dumping: Are Temporary Trade Barriers Really Temporary?

A consistent finding in the literature is that anti-dumping (AD) acts as a significant barrier to bilateral trade, in particular, during the time such measures are in force. Adding to a relatively scarce empirical literature, however, we identify adverse impacts of AD which survive well beyond its revocation. More specifically, while we cannot rule out a slight post-revocation recovery, we find empirical evidence that once affected bilateral trade does not fully recover on average following revocation. We use panel data at the Harmonized System four-digit (HS4) level of aggregation to produce these results and show that they are robust to the duration of AD cases, the time of their imposition and revocation, differentiation by economic sector and the nature of imposing countries. Several explanations for our observed empirical results seem plausible, and we provide a theoretical framework which suggests our results could be driven by market exit or underinvestment of targeted firms.

Hemostasis system in elderly patients with ischemic insult in the system of carotid arteries

There was performed investigation of rhelogic properties, of coagulation and anticoagulation blood systems in 88 patients of senile age with ischemic insult in the carotid system. It was determined that for elderly patients highly expressed tendencies for hyperaggregation and suppression of their own fibrinolytic blood activity are characteristic features. Initially increased level of aggregation and hypercoagulation, combined with presence in blood fibrin-monomer complexes were accompanied by progressing DIC syndrome, and as a rule, were associated with steady neurology deficiency and high incidence of mortality. Possible correction ways were considered for hemostasis system disorders in elderly patients.

Price Markups and Upstreamness in World Input-Output Data

This research uses the publicly available World Input-Output Database (WIOD) to investigate the relationship between an industry’s markup and its upstreamness, the industry’s position in the vertical chain of production; the research also identifies common attributes among high-markup industrial sectors: higher-markup industries display a higher level of capital compensation and a lower share of labour and other inputs in the value of output. Finally, it is found that upstream industries, those producing mostly raw materials and intermediate products enjoy higher market power than their downstream counterparts. This result could be among the first in the literature to find evidence of double marginalization at an industry level of aggregation. It also suggests that virtually all final product prices may incorporate substantial markups through their inputs.

icio: Economic analysis with intercountry input–output tables

Several new statistical tools and analytical frameworks have been recently developed to measure countries’ and sectors’ involvement in global value chains. Such a wealth of methodologies reflects the fact that different empirical questions call for distinct accounting methods and different levels of aggregation of trade flows. In this article, we describe icio, a new command for the computation of the most appropriate measures of trade in value added as well as participation in global value chains. icio follows the conceptual framework proposed by Borin and Mancini (2019, Policy Research Working Paper WPS 8804; WDR 2020 Background Paper, World Bank Group), which in turn extends, refines, and reconciles the other main contributions in this strand of the literature. icio is flexible enough to work with any intercountry input–output table and with any level of aggregation of trade flows.

On detecting cherry-picked generalizations

Generalizing from detailed data to statements in a broader context is often critical for users to make sense of large data sets. Correspondingly, poorly constructed generalizations might convey misleading information even if the statements are technically supported by the data. For example, a cherry-picked level of aggregation could obscure substantial sub-groups that oppose the generalization. We present a framework for detecting and explaining cherry-picked generalizations by refining aggregate queries. We present a scoring method to indicate the appropriateness of the generalizations. We design efficient algorithms for score computation. For providing a better understanding of the resulting score, we also formulate practical explanation tasks to disclose significant counterexamples and provide better alternatives to the statement. We conduct experiments using real-world data sets and examples to show the effectiveness of our proposed evaluation metric and the efficiency of our algorithmic framework.

Incidence, Spatial Pattern and Temporal Progress of Fusarium Wilt of Bananas

The effective management of Fusarium wilt of bananas (FW) depends on the knowledge of the disease dynamics in time and space. The objectives of this work were: To estimate disease intensity and impact, and to investigate the spatial and temporal dynamic of FW. Fields planted with Silk (n = 10), Pome (n = 17) or Cavendish (n = 3) banana subgroups were surveyed in Brazil, totaling 95 ha. In each field, all plants were visually assessed and diseased plants were georeferenced. The incidence of FW and the impact of the disease on yield on a regional scale were estimated. Spatial patterns were analyzed using quadrat- and distance-based methods. FW incidence ranged from 0.09 to 41.42%, being higher in Silk fields (median = 14.26%). Impacts of epidemics on yield ranged from 18.4 to 8,192.5 kg.ha-1.year-1, with a median of 935.2 kg.ha-1.year-1. The higher economic impact of the disease was observed on Silk cultivar with a median loss of US$ 910.5 ha-1.year-1. Overall, estimated losses increased on average by US$ 109.8 ha-1.year-1 at each 1% of incidence. Aggregation of FW was detected by all analytical methods in 13 fields (1 of Cavendish, 11 of Pome and 1 of Silk). In the other 17 fields, at least one analytical method did not reject the null hypothesis of randomness. One field (5 ha), composed of six plots, was selected for spatial and temporal studies during two years with bi-monthly assessments. A sigmoidal curve represented the FW progress and the Gompertz model best fitted disease progress. The level of aggregation varied over time, and evidence of secondary infection to neighboring and distant plants were detected. FW is a widespread problem in Brazil and yield losses can be of high magnitude. Epidemiology-based management strategies can now be better established.

Suppression criteria for inaccurate estimates

Statistical offices regularly decide at what level of aggregation to publish results of their data collection. These decisions are typically driven by two separate concerns: first, they do not want to publish estimates with large amounts of uncertainty; second, they do not want to provide potentially-identifying information that could disclose an individual person or company. This article focuses instead on the first concern, when are data so uncertain that an agency should not publish the results? We focus on policies adopted by 16 statistical offices around the world.

Influences of nanoparticles on aquatic organisms: Current situation of nanoparticles effects in aquatic ecosystems

The quick improvement of nanotechnology permits a wide range of utilization of engineered nanoparticles, such as personal care products, medicals, optics, electronics, and automobiles. The nanoparticles manufactured from Ag, Au carbon-nanotube, ZnO, SiO2, TiO2, Cu, Ni, and magnetic ferrites are among the generally utilized in products. The nanoparticles are produced and utilized in large quantities and release into marine and freshwater ecosystems during production, use, discharge, treatment, and deposition. Those particles with a mean size of 1 nm - 100 nm are of potential environmental risks because of their particular qualifications and high reactivity although their great economical values. Based on the studies, the size, shape, and surface physical and chemical characteristics of the nanoparticles show the level of aggregation, solubility, structural and chemical composition, the importance of the use of nanoparticles, and their toxicity with biological systems. Nanoparticles can potentially cause adverse impacts on tissue, cellular, genetic materials, and protein- enzyme levels due to their unique physical and chemical qualifications. In this study, the effects of nanoparticles on aquatic organisms and aquatic ecosystems were evaluated.